Google and Levi’s Collaborating for Making Smart Pants

Oh well, Google never fails to impress us, they are partnering with Levi’s to introduce ‘smart’ pants. Looks like now you can perform basic tasks of your mobile phone without actually pulling it out of your pocket.

Google announced it on the I/O developer’s conference in San Francisco on Friday that the company’s ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) is working on a new kind of a fabric (woven multi-touch panel and conductive yarn) that can sense touch.

So now you can swipe the side of your jeans or sleeve of your jacket to mute your phone, even tap the fabric for playing any song. You can also adjust volume by swiping on the fabric. ATAP is regarding this project as Project Jacquard and will be bringing the development to Bay Area.

Levi’s Paul Dillinger (Global Production Head), claims that this iteration of smart pants will be fun and fast. Although no release or launch date has been announced yet. Google is not the first company that has come up with this idea, however collaborating with Levi’s is a smart move to reach globally. Levi’s produces 19 billion garments per year.

Ivan Poupyrev of Google wore a beige jacket at the conference and just by waving his hand over his arm, he showed the information picked up by the electronics on a screen.

“We cannot expect global fashion industry to change just for us even though we’re Google. We have to adapt to the textile industry. You would not call it a wearable; you would call it a jacket,” said Poupyrev.

Great news associated with the development is that soon developers and designers will be altering or creating apps depending on the type of fabric.